Film Review: Black Gold

Certificate: 12A
Directed By: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong, Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Liya Kebede
Budget: €40 million
Runtime: 130 minutes
Trailer: Watch

A peace is brokered between two warring Arab tribes, cemented by Amar (Strong) giving his two sons to rival Nesib (Banderas) as hostages. Years later the wary peace is perturbed by the discovery of oil. Nesib violates their treaty when he begins exploiting the riches buried beneath the agreed upon demarcation zone. Philosophical conflicts over religion, politics, tradition, progress and love are ignited.

Other than the events depicted in Lawrence Of Arabia, not a whole lot seems to be known in the West about the Arab world during the early twentieth century. In many ways then the most appealing thing about Black Gold is its mini history lesson of the Bedouin tribes removed from T.E. Lawrence's slice of the action and their rise to statehood on the Arabian peninsula. This is epitomised here when the discovery of oil triggers a clash between the case for progress, represented by Nesib, and the defence of tradition embodied in Amar. Nesib is enamoured by the material wealth that the black gold brings, as well as the tangible benefits that elevate his people's living standards to those experienced in the West. Amar on the other hand views these 'benefits' and the agendas of the West with suspicion, a threat to their culture and way of life. It's not necessarily the most mind-blowing concept, but watching it unfold is somewhat compelling as these two diametrically opposed dogmas fight over how to adjust to their new reality.

At the centre of this conflict is Amar's son Auda (Rahim), who has developed into a learned, albeit meek, young man under Nesib's custody. He falls for Nesib's daughter, Princess Leyla (Pinto), and the two are quickly wed out of love between them, and political expediency for Nesib. Raunchy sex scenes which would never make it past an Islamic film certification board ensue. More importantly Auda soon becomes central to the ideological battle Nesib and Amar are waging, his loyalty torn between his two father-figures, each determined to make use of his unique position.

While this all sounds very grandiose in its abstraction, the problems with Black Gold are in its execution. For one it suffers from serious pacing issues, particularly in the first half which bounds along at a gallop but never lingering to explore character's origins before slowing right down to the near point of tedium. The dialogue is also somewhat bromidic, delivered by a plethora of foreigners attempting their best Arabic accents in earnest. Nowhere is this more apparent than with Antonio Banderas, whose accentuated auricular enunciations become ridiculously obvious. Indeed, for all its epic allusions, it all falls short in pulling the material together effectively.

Black Gold is quite obviously a labour of love. A lot of money was spent and it shows in its high production values and incredibly vivid cinematography, the latter giving an indisputable nod to Lawrence Of Arabia in one battle sequence. While it is admittedly fascinating in many respects, particularly those with an interest in the history of the region, for all its ambitions it too frequently suffers from being trite throughout and arid for extended periods. Consequently the film spends most of its time wandering the desert in search of an oasis, which is disappointing as Black Gold should really have struck oil.

Film Review: Four Lions

Chris Morris has a knack for pissing people off. Those of you who are familiar with him may remember the shit storm created over one particularly controversial episode of his Panorama parody, Brass Eye, where he proceeded to utterly take the piss out of the media hyperbole surrounding paedophilia. Yes, it is a touchy subject, but for me the brilliance of Morris is his daring attempts in making light of taboo social issues. Some might wager I have a sick, twisted sense of humour, but really Morris is not some despicable sociopath. Rather than trivialising otherwise serious issues, he mocks the utter idiocy and unfounded sensitivities of a pseudo-intellectual liberal 'elite'. As should be, anything and everything should be open to a good mocking.

So it is no surprise that Morris' most recent project addresses the front page issue of today, Muslims and terrorism. Omar (Riz Ahmed), is a radicalised, British-born Muslim who has formed a terrorist cell with the retarded yet tragically loveable Waj (Kayvan Novak), idiotic white convert Barry (Nigel Lindsay) and equally dim-witted Fessal (Adeel Akhtar). While Omar and Waj attend a Mujahideen training camp in Pakistan, Barry recruits the aimless would-be-rapper Hassan (Arsher Ali). Upon their return to the UK the quintuplet decide to strike a decisive blow against an unlikely Western target.

For some, Chris Morris' black comedy may be a little too close to the bone. While on the one hand it is amusing to watch these clueless half-wits attempt to stage a devastating terrorist attack, some might turn around and say 'well, what if they were successful? would it still be funny then?'. Well, no. But by the same token, these bumbling idiots display the same level of ineptitude as Captain Mainwaring's Home Guard. Would it have been funny if the Nazis invaded Britain? Again, no. If anything you actually feel somewhat sympathetic to their insurmountable odds.

Four Lions does not attempt to answer why some British-born Muslims, having been brought up with the 'benefits' of a multicultural Western society, would feel the need to blow themselves up in some warped interpretation of Islam. Rather, the men in this video are brought together through personal reasons rather than ideological. While there are jibes at "Jews and slags and that", there is no notion that these men firmly believe in some divinely inspired need to strike at the Great Satan of the West. Indeed, one of the most incredulous parts of the film I found was that Omar's wife and young son scarcely gave two shits about his plans to blow himself up. They even appear amused by the ridiculous Jihadi videos Omar and his comrades make. Whether it was just a genuinely bad decision to include this, or the point was merely to add comic value and to the overall incredulity of it all is unknown. If the latter, it didn't really work and was a slight mar on an otherwise highly capricious film.

Indeed, the highlight is the dialect and running narrative between Omar and Waj - whom he convinces that 'Paradise' will be like the 'Rubber Dinghy Rapids' ride at Alton Towers. The other amusing running joke, yet one with perhaps a serious political point, is the equally inept security forces. For example, the police accidentally shoot an innocent fun-runner because they cannot tell between a Wookie and Honey Monster costume. This alludes to the more serious real-world shooting of Brazilian Charles de Mendez, an innocent man whom the Metropolitan Police shot having failed to identify him. The other point made, and without any comic masquerade, is that of the rendition and torture of terror suspects who may otherwise be innocent. As a sub-plot in the film, Omar's ultra-religious, but equally peaceful brother attempts to dissuade Omar from continuing with his plot. He is wrongfully arrested in a police raid and taken to an RAF hanger where he is placed in a large cargo container. Duly, his interrogator informs him the container is legally Egyptian territory, under which it is implied that he has no rights and is liable to torture.

Four Lions is an amusing film. It doesn't attempt to ram any politics down your throat, but rather ridicule the embellishment of the idea that home-grown terrorists are running amok in Britain; an unfounded panicky view which large swathes of society appear to have taken to. Whilst it might strike a raw nerve with some, it also raises some interesting points. More than anything, Chris Morris should be commended for being one of the few people to have the balls to address such issues.